Katherine Shock, Oxford Jewish Congregation

This year the Jewish festival of Shavuot falls towards the end of May and there are many pleasures to look forward to.

Many may wonder what cheesecake has to do with religion, but the Jews have always been keen on associating food with their festivals.

The cheesecake and related cheese products help us to remember that we are celebrating a Land of Milk and Honey as well as several other aspects of life.

“The Feast of Weeks” is named after “sheva”, the Hebrew word for seven, and the fact that it falls seven weeks after the festival of Passover, marking the time between the Passover barley harvest and the final grain harvest of wheat.

During the 49 intervening days the “Omer” is counted – the temple offerings of sheaves each day.

It is actually one of the three harvest or pilgrimage festivals of our year, which in temple times were marked by Jews making a pilgrimage to the temple with their offerings.

In this case it is the grain festival, so enjoying cake of some sort is certainly appropriate.

It is also called the festival of “first fruits”, which is symbolised by the children bringing pretty flowered baskets filled with fruit into the synagogue, which is decked with flowers, and taking part in what is known as the “Bikkurim” service.

This fruit symbolises the “first fruit” of the harvest, or the grains for example.

It is a heartwarming sight, similar of course to Harvest Festival in the church and valuable in giving a role to the youngest members of the congregation, as well as thanksgiving for our fruit.

The grain theme is linked to the Biblical reading of the Book of Ruth that takes place at Shavuot.

Ruth is a famous ancestor, great grandmother of King David, who was a convert to Judaism after she became a widow, loyally wishing to stay with her mother-in-law Naomi to support her.

Within the story is an illustration, among many other things, of the way that the widow and the orphan have the right to glean their food from the corners of a field that should be left unharvested for those in need.

It is a humane and practical way to help those who have no one to support them and one of the very literally down-to-earth practical details that I love within the Bible.

The festival is also used to commemorate the giving of the Torah (Law) to Moses on Mount Sinai during the period that the Children of Israel were wandering in the wilderness.

There is a concept that all those Jewish people who were there were joined by the souls of those who were yet to come in sharing this revelation.

I love this sense of timelessness – this sharing of a central event – that allows us to own the special moment and acknowledge our own individual responsibility for keeping the laws and understanding the concepts of Torah.

Another tradition that has grown with this festival is to keep the first night as a time for a study vigil (Tikkun) right through the night and this is becoming popular with many groups.

The cheesecake may well be used to keep people going through the long hours, so it is not purely a frivolous addition to the celebrations.

Thankfully, though, those who don’t participate in the night-long study are able to enjoy it just as much as the first fruits.